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Monday, 6th February

The mornings and evenings are vital periods when we need to get going, sometimes when we don’t even feel like it, but we will definitely feel much better afterwards.

I was fortunate as a young child to be around the gym environment between 4pm and 6pm, soon learning that this time most days was meant for exercising or at least doing something.

I haven’t spent too much time in the house tea time in my life, so it’s difficult to imagine what not doing much (physically) at that time is.

This is called a pattern in life really getting engrained in me. I did it so much, i did not know or do not know any different and it feels strange if i don’t do it.

Forget 21 days to form a habit, NINE months of continuous exercise is what studies show to be the stage where individuals are likely to make exercising a long term lifestyle choice they are likely to stick at.

Many of you have passed that stage and continue to make exercise a huge part of your life as you know the great associated benefits. Some of you have yet to get to this stage so you can see how vital it is, to make sure you develop exercise as a way of life, and a pattern of living that gets engrained in you too.

Many spend certain times of day watch TV, sitting around talking with their friends drinking coffee, some go for walks, some spend that time with reading, whatever you want to do is great but making a set time for exercise and sticking with it is absolutely vital to you becoming a long termer or just someone who comes and goes, never discovering the true value of being fit and active has on your life.

Twitt
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Wednesday, 18th January

Thank you Sharon!

You need to be consistent at what you do if you want success, that applies to anything in life.

The temptation to give up when things get a little harder can be overwhelming for some, but we gain faith in our efforts when we are able to see first hand, individuals in our community, and in our gym who go through transformations in every area of their lives when they stick at it no matter what.

Let’s take the story of Sharon Griffiths from Kidwelly, who hasn’t missed a week’s training in a year and a half. Bets were made that she wouldn’t last a week.

She gathered confidence through every small milestone along the way.

Walking through the door was the hardest she said first time.

Making 3 sessions a week was her first milestone. Not being so stiff the morning after was another. Then feeling good from exercise was a major milestone that kept her wanting to carry on, if you feel good doing something, then you are very likely to want to do it.

Once she felt she could stick to coming 3 times a week, her performances got better and she developed some confidence to push herself to achieve more.

Her photos compared to when she first started started changing radically, and she was happy knowing she was doing it the right way. Her skin tone was healthier and had a glow, and she started feeling guilty if she missed her exercise.

The next stage was attempting our outside runs. From a slow start when she walked much of the session, she soon was running the whole way and raised her performance levels to exceptional. A friend of her’s told me this morning that she was in tears the first time she ran it all the way, the culmination of not only a physical effort but a deeply emotional effort and experience too, the girl nobody thought would last was in the process of becoming a champion.

All of this was due to her sticking at it, never allowing excuses into her life even though she has a very busy family life and career that always brought it’s daily pressures and stress.

She is also a major part of Coach Dan Smith’s successful classes at the gym and outside, and to be honest, is one of the first people i introduce new members to so she can relay her inspirational story, so that an absolute beginner can relate to someone who has battled through from being inactive, to someone who is a major part of the gym, who ALWAYS performs at the highest level now and what that takes both physically and mentally.

We salute you Sharon, Diloch yn Fawr! Thanks for everything.

Twitt
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Monday, January 2nd

Most New Year resolutions never last past Valentines day, some last just days.

It takes a change in mindset, and choosing a path to create long lasting change for both your body and mind.

If you have hit rock bottom, that’s sometimes the best place to be because you are really ready to change, and immerse yourself into a healthy lifestyle.

You need a plan that challenges yourself and takes you to the next level continuously. Most people try to do it their own way, but lack direction after a couple of weeks on how to keep improving, despite endless information out there that only confuses people more.

You must know by now that doing a little treadmill and bike occasionally doesn’t create real change for your body, even worse signing a contract to a gym where nobody ever helps you, and hopes you never show up.

You need to accept there is a better way and that includes making training to get stronger the foundation of what you do. This will change your body shape above anything else.

Set realistic expectations, aim to be the best you can be, don’t worry what you were like when you are 18 or 21, being a great version of yourself at 50 is going to be an exciting challenge, and entirely within your capability, and there’s every chance you will look better than ever.

Eat real food, “powder” as meals is not only unsustainable and dangerous, it’s downright miserable and you know it. Be creative with your meals and don’t buy rubbish into your house into the first place.

Occasional treats are great but that’s no reason to bring multipack versions of anything into your home, constantly leading you into temptation. You WILL eat junk if it’s there.

Strive to get just a little bit better every week, choose healthy habits 80% of the time and a rewarding healthy lifestyle will stick if you keep giving it a chance.

Twitt
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Saturday, 10th December

We want to help anyone that has been written off, through injury, through lack of self-confidence or just doesn’t believe they can be great again.

We want to prove that we can get life-changing results each and every day.

We want to prove that exercise is the best medicine for physical and mental health.

We want us and our members to get to 90 years of age and have no regrets.

We want to stay committed life-long learners and pass that knowledge onto you all each and every day.

Caring about our members is even more important than training them.

We want to make a massively positive impact on our members lives and over-deliver every session.

We want everyone we train to say in 40 years time thanks for showing us the right way to do it.

Our greatest achievement will be to keep our members active for a lifetime.

We want to get up everyday early feeling excited we can change lives.

Show our appreciation and gratitude we have for everyone every day.

Twitt
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Thursday, 19th May

Having good health, looking and feeling your best, being stronger mentally are things we all strive for.

The costs are greater for getting into shape long term but ones worth paying for. I’m not talking about money, i’m talking about effort, commitment and dedication.

Our workouts require more energy, focus and sweat than most. The process is filled with more hard work and sometimes failure. You always learn from failure and you become all the better for it. You may take longer to do it but you will stay in shape longer too because it will be much more sustainable.

Training well, eating right and resting enough is all part of the process you need to go through .When you fall in love with the process, you will love what the process creates. It’s not easy becoming fit and healthy or everyone would be doing it.

Everyone wants to get into the great shape some of our members have achieved, but not many of the general public are willing to sacrifice the effort needed to get there and become great themselves.

Everyone is looking for their 5 minutes of fame these days, but not many are willing to give years to their health and body.

Most people think that some of our greatest transformations were “overnight” successes. There’s no such thing as an overnight success, the way to success is working over many months, many years, showing up every day, you do the work and you are dedicated to your craft every day, you put your heart and soul into your work as you strive for excellence.

You will never ever create perfection, but you know you will want to come as close to it as possible. You fail, you improve, you grow, you face countless challenges, and tons of rejection that makes you doubt yourself and sometimes want to quit, but you don’t, you keep working hard, you stay positive and persevere through it all with resilience, determination and a lot of hope and faith, then you MAKE IT.

Everyone wants to know how and the world says “where have you been”, and you say “i’ve been here all along working hard, keeping my head down and hopefully getting better day by day”!

To everyone else, you are an overnight success, but to yourself the journey continues and you want to make your next month and year your best work, no matter what you’ve accomplished in the past.

Committing yourself to long term success is a state of mind, but to get there you have to make the start and battle through the ups and downs until you reach the standard you always knew you were capable of getting to.

Twitt